Lotusscript Class for generating PDF files using N2PDF

Posted on by Posted in Old Blog Post

To make it easy to implement N2PDF in my applications/agents, I created a simple class, which I put in a script library called Class.PDF. Most of the code for teh actual PDF generation was taken straight from the example provided with the product.

In addition to the actual PDF creation, I also added functions to send the PDF file to a physical printer, and to send the PDF file to our internal document imaging system. I have removed the code for the latter, as it is very specialized code, calling a custom COM object we built, etc.

To send the PDF file to the printer, Acrobat Reader 9.0 is installed on the server (or client, depending on where the code is being executed). Due to limitations in AcroRD32.exe (it is not closing after it finish printing), I am using Acrobat Wrapper (AcroWrap.exe) from bioPDF.
You may also notice that I check two environment variables, this is to detect if the code is running on a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

I can not take credit for the ShellAndWait() function, I downloaded the code long ago from somewhere. It is used instead of the LotusScript Shell() function, and it will sit and wait until the called program finished executing before it continues.

Option Public
Option Declare
%INCLUDE "N2PDFDEF.SCR"

' *** Used for ShellAndWait()
Type STARTUPINFO
	cb As Long
	lpReserved As String
	lpDesktop As String
	lpTitle As String
	dwX As Long
	dwY As Long
	dwXSize As Long
	dwYSize As Long
	dwXCountChars As Long
	dwYCountChars As Long
	dwFillAttribute As Long
	dwFlags As Long
	wShowWindow As Integer
	cbReserved2 As Integer
	lpReserved2 As Long
	hStdInput As Long
	hStdOutput As Long
	hStdError As Long
End Type

' *** Used for ShellAndWait()
Type PROCESS_INFORMATION
	hProcess As Long
	hThread As Long
	dwProcessID As Long
	dwThreadID As Long
End Type


' *** Used for ShellAndWait()
Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" _
(Byval hHandle As Long, Byval dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long
Declare Function CreateProcessA Lib "kernel32" _
(Byval lpApplicationName As Long, Byval lpCommandLine As String, _
Byval lpProcessAttributes As Long, Byval lpThreadAttributes As Long, _
Byval bInheritHandles As Long, Byval dwCreationFlags As Long, _
Byval lpEnvironment As Long, Byval lpCurrentDirectory As Long, _
lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, _
lpProcessInformation As PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Long
Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" _
(Byval hObject As Long) As Long
Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20&
Const INFINITE = -1&	
Const tmpPath = "C:\N2PDF\"	' Directory to store files in


' *** Main class to create and print PDF files
Class PDF
	Private JobID As Long
	Private IsOnServer As Integer
	Public PrinterName As String
	Public testmode As Integer
	
	Public Sub New()
		Dim session As New NotesSession
		Dim txtrow As String
		Dim cmd As String
		Dim res As Integer
		' *** Fix registry settings for Acrobat 9.0 to not shrink/fit page
		Open tmpPath & "AcrobatSettings.reg" For Output As #1
		Print #1, "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00"
		Print #1, ""
		Print #1, "[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\AVGeneral]"
		Print #1, |"bprintExpandToFit"=dword:00000000|
		Print #1, |"iprintScaling"=dword:00000001|
		Close #1
		cmd = |regedit /s | & tmpPath & |AcrobatSettings.reg|
		res =  ShellAndWaitFunc(cmd)
		Kill tmpPath & "AcrobatSettings.reg"
		Me.IsOnServer = session.IsOnServer()	' True if code is running on server
		If InitN2PDF() = False Then
			Call printmsg( "Failed to initialize N2PDF. Exiting.")			
			Exit Sub
		End If
		testmode = False
	End Sub

	
	Sub Delete
		' *** Destructor
	End Sub

	
	' *** This function print to console on server but display message box if running in client
	Private Sub PrintMsg(text As String)
		If Me.IsOnServer Then
			Print text
		Else 
			Msgbox text,,"Class.PDF:" & Getthreadinfo(LSI_THREAD_CALLPROC)
		End If
	End Sub

	
	Private Function InitN2PDF() As Integer
		Me.JobID = N2PDFInit (0)
		If ( Me.JobID < 0 ) Then	' Make sure N2PDF was initialized successfully
			InitN2PDF = False
			Exit Function
		End If
		' *** Set N2PDF options
		Call N2PDFSetGlobalOption( N2PDFGLOBALOPTION_SHOW_MESSAGES, _
		N2PDFVALUE_False,"" )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_SYSTEM_LAUNCH_VIEWER, N2PDFVALUE_FALSE, "" )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_NOTES_LINK_DOC_MODE, N2PDFVALUE_NOTES_LINK_MODE_IMAGE_LINK, "" )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_PDF_COMPRESSION_MODE, N2PDFVALUE_COMPRESSION_DEFLATE, "" )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _ 
		N2PDFOPTION_PARAGRAPH_FONT_NAME, "Arial", N2PDFVALUE_DEFAULT_PARAGRAPH_NAME )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_PARAGRAPH_FONT_SIZE, "8", N2PDFVALUE_DEFAULT_PARAGRAPH_NAME )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_PARAGRAPH_FONT_COLOR, N2PDFVALUE_COLOR_BLACK, _
		N2PDFVALUE_DEFAULT_PARAGRAPH_NAME )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_FORMAT_DELETE_TRAILING_SPACE, N2PDFVALUE_True, "" )
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, _
		N2PDFOPTION_PAGE_FORMAT_STANDARD,N2PDFVALUE_PAGEFORMAT_LETTER, "" )		
		Call N2PDFSetOption ( Me.JobID, N2PDFOPTION_EXPORT_TABLE_GAP, "1", "" )
		InitN2PDF = True
	End Function

	
	Public Function AddDocToPDF(doc As NotesDocument)
		' *** Add doc to the PDF we are processing. 
		' *** Use trailing CRLF to avoid blank page at the end
		Call N2PDFAddRTContent ( JobID, N2PDFVALUE_CONTENT_BODY, _
		N2PDFVALUE_CRLF_AFTER, doc.ParentDatabase.Server, _
		doc.ParentDatabase.FilePath, doc.UniversalID, "")
	End Function

	
	Public Sub AddPageBreak()
		Call N2PDFAddContent( Me.JobID, N2PDFVALUE_CONTENT_BODY, _
		N2PDFVALUE_PAGEBREAK_AFTER," " )
	End Sub

	
	Public Sub AddLineBreak()
		Call N2PDFAddContent( Me.JobID, N2PDFVALUE_CONTENT_BODY, _
		N2PDFVALUE_CRLF_AFTER," " )
	End Sub

	
	Public Function CreatePDF(outfile As String)
		If Fulltrim(outfile) = "" Then
			Call PrintMsg("No filename provided provided for [outfile].")
			Exit Function
		End If
		Call N2PDFProcess ( Me.JobID, outfile, 0 )
	End Function
	
	
	Public Sub SetPrinter(printername As String)
		Me.PrinterName = printername
	End Sub
	

	Public Function PrintPDF(Byval filename As String) As Integer
		Dim printer As String
		Dim prg As String
		Dim cmd As String
		Dim success As Long
		Dim dirtemp As String
		Dim path As String 
		
		If Environ$("ProgramFiles(x86)") <> "" Then
			path = Environ$("ProgramFiles(x86)")
		Elseif Environ$("ProgramFiles") <> "" Then
			path = Environ$("ProgramFiles")
		Else
			path = "c:\Program Files"
		End If	
		dirtemp = path & "\bioPDF\Acrobat Wrapper\"
		prg = dirtemp & "acrowrap.exe"
		If Dir$(prg) = "" Then
			' *** File was  not found, we can't print to printer without it.
			Print "Failed to locate acrowrap.exe (bioPDF Acrobat Wrapper)."
			PrintPDF = -1
			Exit Function
		End If		
		prg = |"| & prg & |"|	' Add double quotes around file name
		If Me.PrinterName<>"" Then
			printer = " " & Me.PrinterName
		Else
			printer = ""	' This will use default printer
		End If
		filename = |"| & filename & |"|
		cmd = prg & | /t | & filename & printer
		success = ShellAndWaitFunc(cmd)
		PrintPDF = Cint(success)
	End Function
	

	Private Function ShellAndWaitFunc(Byval RunProg As String) As Long
		Dim RetVal As Long
		Dim RetvalClose As Long
		Dim proc As PROCESS_INFORMATION
		Dim StartInf As STARTUPINFO
		StartInf.cb = Len(StartInf)
	     ' Execute the given path
		RetVal = CreateProcessA(0&, RunProg, 0&, 0&, 1&, _
		NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 0&, 0&, StartInf, proc)
	     ' Disable this app until the shelled one is done
		RetVal = WaitForSingleObject(proc.hProcess, INFINITE)
		RetValClose = CloseHandle(proc.hProcess)
		ShellAndWaitFunc = RetValClose
	End Function
End Class

Here is a small code snippet showing how to call the class. Enjoy!

Option Public
Option Declare
Use "Class.PDF"

Dim pdf As PDF
Dim success As Integer
dim PDFfile As String

...set doc here
PDFfile = doc.UniversalID & ".pdf"	' Create file name based on document UNID

Set pdf = New PDF()		' Initialize PDF object
pdf.TestMode = False	' Set PDF object to test mode if desired
pdf.PrinterName ="CRP_Accounting_Color"	' Set the printer name for printouts
Call pdf.AddDocToPDF( doc )
Call pdf.CreatePDF( PDFfile )
success= pdf.PrintPDF( PDFfile )
If success = 1 Then
	MsgBox "Successfully printed " & PDFfile & "."
End If

 

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Creeper